Miscalculation
by Fang323
Summary: Tony Stark purposefully wanted to be alone. Unfortunately, he didn't count on how others felt as he drove that nuclear warhead through the portal.


Hey there, Fang here. First installment of my Avengers fan-craze, and for those of you looking for the wonderful Dr. Banner, just wait for the next chapter. This one is meant to be more of a character study of Tony Stark.

Because he is amazing.

I could go on and on, but I won't. Enjoy!

* * *

Tony Stark wasn't an idiot. He knew he was the most brilliant person on the face of the entire earth and no one was going to tell him differently. He didn't need confirmation from the world to know that, though he wasn't turning away any completely-in-awe-fans. Those were a bonus, though.

Genius billionare playboy philanthropist. Oh, how the words rolled off his magnificent tongue as he put that damn good-two-shoes in his place. Genius billionaire playboy philanthropist. The great Tony Stark was not one to downplay his talents, in the laboratory or the spotlight. He knew exactly what he was; how amazing he was. And yet, people seemed to view that as a bad thing.

What was the point of all that genius and flair and devilishly handsome good looks he possessed when the public deemed it 'bad' and 'self-centered'? Tony didn't understand, nor did he particularly want to He had more important things to keep his impressively intellectual mind occupied with than a simple opinion.

After all, once you start caring about opinions, you start caring about people. People and their useless feelings and well-beings, each lost in their own little world. They seemed so insignificant, especially compared to him and his absolutely brilliant work.

Life worked well that way.

And then that damn reactor arc became a life-necessity, he was betrayed by his friend and partner, built his Iron Man suits, was practically drafted into the Avengers, and met some of the weirdest people who called themselves his 'teammates'.

Somehow, this all led up to the fact that he was flying towards a portal in the universe leading to black space, carrying a nuclear warhead that would by all means explode.

Oh. ANd he was going to die. An added cherry on the ice cream.

That was all fine and well. What surprised him was that he didn't care.

Tony didn't care that he was going to die. Hell, it barely crossed his mind. All his genius, all his wonderful intellect was about to be winked out of existence.

But hey, he was saving a city, and the entire population of it. That was a good enough trade off, he thought.

Would have been nice to try some of that schwarma, though.

And do science with Bruce, a man finally capable of understanding his mentality and keeping up with his mind. Maybe he could even force Hulk out! Now that would have been fun.

Maybe he might have been able to talk to Steve without having a cat fight between grown males. No, scratch that. Reverse that.

He could completely and utterly baffle Thor with a toaster. And then a mixer. And maybe even a microwave.

Don't forget the lewd sex jokes to make about Clint and Natasha.

Say goodbye to Rhodey.

Kiss Pepper one last time.

Or, you know, at least talking would be fine too, but she wasn't picking up and kissing would be so much more fun anyway.

Tony blasted through the portal and into open space, throwing the nuke at that ship.

He already couldn't breathe. JARVIS wasn't even there to remind him of such. Didn't matter right now. Man, now he really wanted to try that schwarma.

Fireworks erupting in space from an exploding ship were a nice touch, he mused, his lungs already burning. The perfect way to die.

It was quiet, too.

For the first time, he couldn't hear a thing.

Would anyone miss him when he was gone? Was he even worth missing? A genius billionaire playboy philanthropist like him. Hell, if that bastard Fury missed him, he'd eat his own face.

Tony felt like an outsider in the Avengers, the one that everyone dealt with becasue of what an ass he was. But they didn't fully understand.

Keep himself isolated, unable to relate with anyone, and if they died, no one got hurt. He'd done it most of his life. Kinda his thing, he thought. Pepper and Rhodey were exceptions, of course, since he could protect them and keep them safe.

He forgot that it worked the other way round. No one would remember him, and Pepper and Rhodey would move on.

This was how he wanted it, right?

Vison fading out. The burning in his lungs was numbing. All symptoms of death.

Blackness engulfed him.

Alone. How ironic.

* * *

A blood-curdling roar jolted him into awareness, and breath flowed hinto his lungs. Tony gasped and moved as his senses came hurtling back to him in an onslaught. Holy mother-fucker, he was alive.

How the fuck...?

Tony's faceplate had been ripped off, so light burst through unhindered and he shut his eyes tight. He inched them open again, definitely confused.

The sky of Manhattan met him. No more space? But...

He turned his attention to the people around him.

The Captain, Hulk, and the gullible demi-god were looking down at his prone form with concern and relief.

Wait. Hold on. Rewind that.

Tony could accept that somehow, he had miscalculated and that he wasn't dead, but that these people he called 'teammates' were concerned? That was impossible. But still...those looks never waivered as they waited for him to speak. Even inside of himself, something snapped, and he felt content.

Maybe Tony Stark was wrong about something for once in his life.

But who wouldn't want to be wrong about this?

* * *

Author's Comments:

I love this man. I really do. And most of my friends hate him, so therefore I fight all the harder for him because really, there is only one Tony Stark and he is amazing.

I have a few other Avengers ideas lined up, so I'll get those out soon.

Review, if you wish!

Thank you for reading.

-Fang


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